Uruguay. A prefabricated chapel in the vineyards

The binational collective MAPA, based in Uruguay and Brasil, designed Sacromonte chapel as a prefabricated structure in the productive landscape of the sierras of eastern Uruguay. The building, described as a ‘landscape amplifier’ by the studio, has been conceived as a contemporary sacred space subtly open towards the surroundings, merging interior and exterior space.

The structure consists of two 9x6 meters cross-laminated timber planes, converging but never touching, both leaning on a metallic platform that gives the building a sense of suspension from the ground. A floating box made of black translucent onyx – containing a statue of the Vergin of ‘La Carrodilla’ – perforates one of the timber planes breaking the symmetry of the archetypal-like. This element brings light into the space as if it was a cannon-lumière. The production process of the materials was entirely made in Portugal; the pieces were then transported on site and assembled in just one day.